Cloud Kitchens and Their Impact on the Restaurant Industry

An analysis of the implementation specifics of the "cloud kitchen" concept as a relevant business model in the restaurant industry, entirely based on food delivery services, has been conducted. This analysis has revealed such advantages of the mentioned concept as reduced production costs, expansion of the customer base, as well as high indicators of organization flexibility and scalability without the need for substantial investments and under conditions of minimal risk during the reorganization of the "cloud kitchen" service. The study included the determination of methods for preparing the general infrastructure for food preparation and the inclusion of food delivery services, as well as the evaluation of quantitative performance indicators, taking into account the working schedules and locations of conventional restaurants that can serve as the basis for the business model. The necessity of forming a methodology for organizing the operation of an information system that manages food preparation and delivery in accordance with changes in target indicators in real-time mode, considering constraints on information channel throughput, computational resources, and the volume of the information repository, has been emphasized. Sets of positions characterizing current trends in the operation of restaurant industry subdivisions organized in accordance with the cloud kitchen business model have been identified, namely: (i) an indicator reflecting how often users turn to online reviews to make decisions about service selection; (ii) an indicator reflecting the software applications customers use to order food online; (iii) a quantitative indicator reflecting ordering food online at discounted prices; (iv) a quantitative indicator reflecting ordering food online according to the chosen brand of food delivery application; (v) a quantitative indicator reflecting ordering food according to the chosen restaurant brand; (vi) a quantitative indicator reflecting the customer's choice of online food delivery application based on online advertising data. Based on quantitative indicators presented in open sources, calculations of such correlation indicators as the Pearson correlation coefficient and the two-tailed p-value of significance were performed, according to which the results of the statistical analysis were interpreted and the level of confidence in the specified results was determined. As a result, methodological recommendations for organizing the effective operation of a cloud kitchen based on statistical analysis of the results of online food delivery services were proposed.